Peripheral or KVM (keyboard, video, and mouse) switches allow a keyboard, a mouse, a video monitor, or other peripheral devices to interact with or be controlled by a computer selected from a group of computers. Although peripheral switches take a variety of forms, their essential purpose is to allow a keyboard, a mouse, a video monitor, and other peripheral devices to interact with the selected computer such that the computer receives and transmits signals to and from the various peripheral devices regardless of the data protocol schemes employed by either the selected computer or the peripheral devices.
Typically, however, peripheral switches do not allow a first computer to continue controlling a first peripheral device while control of the other peripheral device(s) is switched to a second computer. In some situations, a user might want the first computer to continue performing a task (e.g., performing a data transfer or playing music) using a first peripheral device while the second computer uses the other peripheral devices. In some situations, such as performing a data transfer, any interruption of the control or the connection between the computer and the peripheral device could cause file system corruption or data loss.
Accordingly, a need or potential for benefit exists for a switching apparatus or system that allows a first computer to continue to control a first peripheral device while control of other peripheral devices is switched to other computers.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention. Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements.
The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms “include,” and “have,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.
The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “under,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. The term “on,” as used herein, is defined as on, at, or otherwise adjacent to or next to or over.
The terms “couple,” “coupled,” “couples,” “coupling,” and the like should be broadly understood and refer to connecting two or more elements or signals, electrically and/or mechanically, either directly or indirectly through intervening circuitry and/or elements. Two or more electrical elements may be electrically coupled, either direct or indirectly, but not be mechanically coupled; two or more mechanical elements may be mechanically coupled, either direct or indirectly, but not be electrically coupled; two or more electrical elements may be mechanically coupled, directly or indirectly, but not be electrically coupled. Coupling (whether only mechanical, only electrical, or both) may be for any length of time, e.g., permanent or semi-permanent or only for an instant.
“Electrical coupling” and the like should be broadly understood and include coupling involving any electrical signal, whether a power signal, a data signal, and/or other types or combinations of electrical signals. “Mechanical coupling” and the like should be broadly understood and include mechanical coupling of all types.
The absence of the word “removably,” “removable,” and the like near the word “coupled,” and the like does not mean that the coupling, etc. in question is or is not removable. For example, the recitation of an electrical connector being coupled to a peripheral device does not mean that the peripheral cannot be removed (readily or otherwise) from the electrical connector.
“Peripheral device,” as used herein, can refer to any electrical device that can be coupled to a computer to expand its functionality or abilities. For example, a peripheral device can be a mouse, a keyboard, a video monitor or display, a printer, a scanner, a disk drive, a tape drive, a microphone, a speaker, a digital media player, a joystick, a CD-ROM (computer disk read only memory) player, a DVD (digital video disk) player, a USB (universal serial bus) hub, flash memory drive (e.g., a thumb drive), or a camera. “Mouse,” as used herein, includes all computer input point devices (mice, trackballs, touchpad, pointing sticks, etc.).